Automatic cop feeder

ABSTRACT

Automatic cop feeder used in combination with bottomless type cop containers containing cops in prescribedly defined multiple columns wherein cops are delivered from said container into a cop shooting tunnel intermittently from column to column with a help by a feeler disposed to the tunnel and thusly delivered cops are transported one by one towards next operational station such as a rewinding part from the shooting tunnel through a conveyer tower located in connection with an outlet end of the shooting tunnel.

United States Patent [151 3,704,810 Sakai 1 Dec. 5, 1972 AUTOMATIC COP FEEDER 3,187,940 6/1965 Harris ..221/236 X 72 1 t Sh iSk',l( t,J 1 or oz 8. yo 0 apan Primary Examiner-M. Henson Wood, Jr. [73] Assignee: Murata Machinery, Ltd., Kyoto, Assistant Examiner-Michael Y. Mar

Japan Attorney-Robert E. Burns et al. [22] Filed: June 24, 1971 Appl. No.: 134,828

[5 7] ABSTRACT Automatic cop feeder used in combination with bottomless type cop containers containing cops in prescribedly defined multiple columns wherein cops are delivered from said container into a cop shooting tunnel intermittently from column to column with a help by a feeler disposed to the tunnel and thusly delivered cops are transported one by one towards next operational station such as a rewinding part from the shooting tunnel through a conveyer tower located in connection with an outlet end of the shooting tunnel.

12 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTED DEC 5 I972 SHEET b 0F 5 PATENTEDnEc 5:912

SHEET 5 OF 5 .lll

AUTOMATIC COP FEEDER The present invention relates to an automatic cop feeder, more particularly relates to a cop feeder which automatically feeds cops one by one to an operational station such as rewinding part from cop containers containing cops in prescribedly defined columns.

In the conventional cop feeding system, cops must be manually taken out from cop containers containing cops automatically doffed on spinning machines so that they are placed in an exact arrangement one by one within a storage station of an automatic cop feeding equipment.

The conventional cop feeding system of the above described type is accompanied with indispensable drawbacks. Troublesome manual operations are needed for mounting the cops in the exact arrangement one by one in the storage station. Further, when the cops are to be delivered from the storage station to the next operational station, they tend to form a bridge in the vicinity of an outlet from the storage station, thereby hindering smooth delivery of the cops from the station.

The basic object of the present invention is to provide an automatic cop feeder capable of automatically feeding cops one by one smoothly towards the next operational station such as a rewinding part without any troublesome manual operations.

In order to attain the object, the automatic cop feeder of the present invention is used in combination with bottomless type cop containers for containing cops doffed from the spinning machines in prescribedly defined columns. Following intermittent movement of the containers of prescribed timing, cops are fed into a cop shooting tunnel from column to column and the cops received in the cop shooting tunnel are fed one by one to a conveyor mechanism which transports the cops towards the next operational station by its own circulation. Number of cops in the cop shooting tunnel is sensed by a feeler mechanism so as to cause the above-mentioned intermittent movement of the cop container when the number is reduced below a prescribed value.

Further features and advantages of the present invention will be described in more detail in the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, wherein,

FIG. I is a perspective view of an entire construction of the first embodiment of the automatic cop feeder of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a partly sectional vertical view of a part of a cop container used in combination with the cop feeder shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a partly sectional side view of the cop feeder shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a partly sectional view of the cop feeder seen along a line lV-IV in FIG. 3,

FIG. 5 is a partly sectional side view of the second embodiment of the cop feeder of the present invention,

FIG. 6 is a partly sectional plan view of a part of a cop container used in combination with the cop feeder shown in FIG. 5, in combination with a stopper mechanism operative thereto.

Referring to FIG. 1, an entire view of the first embodiment of the automatic cop feeder of the present invention is shown with some related parts. In the shown arrangement, cop containers 1 of the later described type are mounted on a base station 2 and, at one end of the base station 2, a conveyor tower 3 is exerted. Through this conveyor tower 3, the cops are transferred, in a manner later explained in detail, to the subsequent station for handling the cops. On one side of the base station 2, a casing 4 is arranged so as to contain a mechanism for governing the operation of the automatic cop feeder.

For a better understanding of the present invention, the structure of the cop container 1, in combination with which the first embodiment is to be used is illustrated in detail in FIG. 2. The container 1 is provided at both sides of its lower part, with elongated boxes 6 containing a mechanism for holding cops placed in the container 1. As is seen in the drawing, a vertical push rod 7 is mounted slidably through the box 6 with its upper end exposed outside the box 6. Inside the box 6, a tension spring 8 is disposed with its one end fixed to the push rod 7 and the other end fixed to the ceiling of the box 6. Near the midway of the push rod 7, a cam lever 9 is pivoted, at its one end, on the side wall of the box 6. The cam lever 9 is provided with a slot 1 l engaging with a pin 12 secured horizontally to the push rod 7 at a point midway thereof. A holder plate 13 is also pivoted to the side wall of the box 6 in a manner such as to pivot together with the cam lever 9 when the latter pivots. Inside wall of the box 6 is provided with an opening (not shown) for allowing the passing of the holder plate 13. Bottom end portion of the push rod 7 is preferably received by an internal flange of the box 6 for a stable sliding movement.

Before the cops are placed into the container 1, the push rod 7 is manually, or automatically if desired, pushed down against the pulling-in force of the tension spring 8. By this pushing, the push rod 7 lowers and the cam lever 9 pivots counterclockwisely in the drawing accompanying counterclockwise pivotation of the holder plate 13. In the condition that the holder plate 13 is brought to a position shown by chain lines in the illustration, cops 14 are put in the container 1 and both ends of the lowest positioned cop 14 rest on the holder plate 13 in the chain lined position, the weight of the cops overcoming the spring force of the tension spring 8. When it is necessary to take the cops 14 out of the container 1, the cops 14 are manually lifted a little and the holder plates 13 spontaneously resume their initial position shown by the full line due to the spring force of the tension spring 8. Then, by removing the manual support, the cops 14 naturally fall down out of the container 1.

Detailed structure of the first embodiment will be explained hereinafter making reference mainly to FIGS. 3 and 4. On the upper face of the base station 2, a mechanism for moving the cop containers 1 in a prescribed timing is disposed. This mechanism includes two sets of conveyor belts l6 and 17. The conveyor belt 16 runs over a pair of sprockets l8 and 19 disposed to the base station 2 and spaced from each other. In an alignment with the conveyor belt 16, the other conveyor belt 17 also runs over a pair of sprockets 21 and 22 disposed to the base station 2 and spaced from each other. The sprocket 19 of the conveyor belt 16 is accompanied by a corotational sprocket 23 mounted fixedly on a common shaft while the sprocket 22 of the conveyor belt 22 is also accompanied by a corotational sprocket 24 mounted fixedly on a common shaft. A driving belt 26 runs over the sprockets 23, 24 and a driving pulley 27 which is rotated by a driving motor 28. Therefore, rotation of the driving pulley 27 generated by the driving motor 28 induces circulation of the conveyor belts l6 and 17 via elements 26, 24, 22, 23 and 19. Inside the conveyor belts 16 and 17, auxiliary rollers 29 are disposed so as to support the upper run of the conveyor belts l6 and 17 in a position bearing against the load of the cops and containers placed thereon. Although only one side of the mechanism for moving the cop container 1 is shown in FIG. 3, the conveyor belts l6 and 17 and their related parts are installed on the other side of the base station 2 as seen in FIG. 4.

Being spatially sandwiched by the straight runs of the conveyor belts l6 and further by the straight runs of the conveyor belts 17, an elongated guide 31 is formed over the upper face of the base station 2. The height of the elongated guide 31 is so selected that its upper face positions sufficiently above the level of the holder plate 13 (see FIG. 2) in its horizontal disposition. So, when the cop container 1 arrives at the leftward termination of the guide 31 in FIG. 3, cops 14 in the container 1 are pushed up from the disposition as shown by chain lines in FIG. 2 to the disposition shown in FIG. 4, with the bottom cops 14 bearing on the upper face of the guide 31 (see FIGS. 3 and 4). From this lifting of the cops 14 in the container 1, the holder plate 13 of FIG. 2 spontaneously recedes into the box 6 by the spring force. Therefore, as long as the container 1 travels along the elongated guide 31, the upper face of the guide 31 assumes the bottom wall of the container 1.

For the sake of ease in the following explanation, the term upstream refers to a side remote from the conveyor tower 3 whereas the term downstream refers to a side close to the conveyor tower 3 in FIG. 3.

Next to the downstream termination of the elongated guide 31, a cop shooting tunnel 32 is formed through the inside of the base station 2 with its outlet end opening at a downstream side wall of the base station 2. The dimension and curvature of the shooting tunnel 32 is so selected as to allow a smooth passing of the cops 14 therethrough. A feeler 33 is attached to the tunnel 32 at a position near the inlet end of the tunnel 32 so as to sense the presence of the cops 14 in the tunnel 32. The feeler is electrically connected to the driving motor 28 so as to govern the running of the latter in accordance with the presence of the cops 14 in the tunnel 32. Although a mechanical feeler 33 is used in the illustrated embodiment, a photo-electric feeler may be employed for the same purpose also.

In the conveyor tower, an endless conveyor 34 circulates vertically over a pair of driver skeltons 36 and 37, one of which is related to a suitable driving source, e.g. a driving motor in the embodiment shown. The conveyor 34 is provided with transversal cop pockets 38 prescribedly spaced from each other. Near the upper end of the conveyor 34, one side wall 39 of the conveyor tower 3 leads away from the outer face of the conveyor 34.

In the container 1, multiple partitions 41 are disposed extending in a direction crossing the moving direction of the container 1 on the base station. So, the cops 14 are positioned in the container 1 being piled up in several columns defined by the partitions 41. Further, in the container 1, the lengthwise direction of the cops 14 crosses the moving direction of the container 1 on the base station.

Feeding of the cops on to the automatic cop feeder of the above explained construction is carried out in the following manner.

The conveyor belts l6 and 17 are supposed to circulate in directions shown with arrows 42 and 43, i.e. the container 1 moves in a direction shown by an arrow 44. Further, the endless conveyor 34 is supposed to circulate in a direction shown by arrows 46 (see FIG. 3).

When a vertical column of the cops, for example the foremost leading side column (the first column) in FIG. 3 leaves the downstream termination of the elongated guide 31, the bottom support for the cops 14 in the first column is cancelled and the cops 14in the first column fall in succession into the cop shooting tunnel 32. When the cop pocket 38 arrives at the outlet end of the tunnel 32, the first cop 14a is received by the pocket 38, carried upwardly as the conveyor 34 circulates and discharged from the pocket 38 for the next station 47 when the pocket 38 approaches the upward end of the conveyor 34. During the upward transportation of the first cop 14a, the next pocket 38 arrives at the outlet end of the tunnel 32 to receive the second cop 14b. In the disposition shown in FIG. 3, the first cop 14a has just been discharged from its associated pocket, the second cop 14b is midway in its upward transportation, the third cop has just been received by the pocket 38 and the fourth cop 14d is waiting for the arrival of the subsequent pocket 38.

When the last cop 14n falls below the level of the feeler 33, the feeler 33 senses the absence of the cop 14 and emits an electric signal to start the driving motor 28. Upon running of the driving motor 28, the container 1 advances downstreamly. When the container 1 has moved over a distance corresponding to the width of one column of the cops 14 in the container 1, the cops 14 of the second column instantly fall into the shooting tunnel 32 and the feeler 33, which senses the fall of the cops 14 of the second column, emits an electric signal to stop the driving motor 28, i.e. to stop the movement of the container. Thus, the container 1 performs a limited intermittent movement so as to feed the cops 14 into the tunnel 32 from column to column of the cops.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, the second embodiment of the automatic cop feeder of the present invention is shown. In the drawings, elements common to those of the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals.

This embodiment is distinguished from the first embodiment by the fact that no conveyor belt mechanism is used for the movement of the containers 1. In the second embodiment, the upper face of the base station 2 is inclined downwardly towards the conveyor tower 3. Freely rotatable rolls 48 are disposed on the upper face of the base station across the moving direction of the container 1. The container 1 is placed on the rolls 48 and moves downstreamly towards the tunnel 32 due to the inclination of the upper face of the base station.

However, so as to afford the limited intermittent movement of the container 1, the container 1 has a structure somewhat different from the ones in the first embodiment as seen from FIG. 6 and the automatic cop feeder is provided with a special mechanism cooperative with the above-mentioned particular container structure.

As is seen from FIG. 6, the cop container 1 used for this embodiment is not provided with any inside partitions. However, so as to place the cops 14 in a multiple columns arrangement within the container 1, side walls 49 of the container 1 have a specially fluted structure. The outwardly projecting portions 51, which elongate vertically, of the side walls 49 receive inside the ends of bobbins 14a on which the cops 14 are formed. In the drawing, one side wall 49 only is partly illustrated only.

In the vicinity of the inlet end of the cop shooting tunnel 32, a stopper 52 is mounted over the upper face of the base station 2 via an upright stand 53 fixed to the upper face in an arrangement engageable with the outwardly projecting portions 51 of the cop container 1 (see FIG. 5). Movement of the stopper 52 is governed by a solenoid 54 which is mounted on the upright stand 53 also and is electrically connected to the feeler 33 of the tunnel 32.

When sufficient number of cops 14 exist in the shooting tunnel 32 as shown in FIG. 5, the feeler 33 senses such disposition and the solenoid 54 functions so that the stopper 52 engages the projecting portion 51 of the side wall 49 of the container 1 as shown in FIG. 6. When the last cop 14 of a certain cop column falls below the level of the feeler 33, the feeler 33 senses such disposition and gives a corresponding instruction signal to the solenoid 52. Upon receipt of the signal, the solenoid 52 functions so as to disengage the stopper 52 from the projecting portion 51 of the container 1. By this disengagement, the container 1 moves in the direction shown by the arrow 44, i.e. towards the lower side of the inclined upper face of the base station 2. When the container 1 has moved over a distance corresponding to a cop column, cops 14 of the next column fall into the tunnel 32 and the feeler 33, via the solenoid 54, actuates the stopper 52 so as to resume its engagement with the next projecting portion 51. By this revival of the engagement, the container 1 again ceases its movement. Thus, the cop container 1 performs a limited intermittent movement so as to feed the cops 14 timely into the shooting tunnel 32 from column to column.

If the stopper mechanism of the second embodiment is employed in the first embodiment, the conveyor belt mechanism of the first embodiment can be fairly replaced by the inclined upper face structure of the base station of the second embodiment.

What is claimed is:

1. Automatic cop feeder used in combination with bottomless type cop containers wherein cops are placed in prescribedly defined multiple columns comprising, in combination, an elongated base station whereupon said cop containers are mounted; a conveyor tower through which said cops are transported towards the next operational station one by one and located at one termination of said base station; means for advancing said containers along an upper face of said base station towards said conveyor tower in an intermittent fashion; a guide elongated over a prescribed length along said base station on said upper face so as to temporarily uphold cops in said container when the latter is in engagement therewith; a cop shooting tunnel formed through said base station whose inlet end is open at said upper face of said base station at a location next to a downstream termination of said elongated guide and whose outlet end is open facing said conveyor tower; and a feeler disposed to said cop shooting tunnel which, when the uppermost cop in said cop shooting tunnel falls below the level thereof, senses this lowering and actuates said container advancing means so as to advance said container over a length corresponding to a column width of said cops in said cop container; thereby cops in said container fall into said cop shooting tunnel from column to column and are transported towards said next station through said conveyor tower one by one.

2. Automatic cop feeder as claimed in claim 1, wherein said conveyor tower is internally provided with a circulating endless conveyor, multiple cop pockets formed transversally on said endless conveyor prescribedly spaced from each other along a length of said endless conveyor and a driving source for circulation of said endless conveyor.

3. Automatic cop feeder as claimed in claim 1, wherein said cop container is provided with multiple internal partitions extending across an advancing direction of said cop container on said base station and cops are placed in columns defined by said internal partitions.

4. Automatic cop feeder as claimed in claim 3, wherein said container advancing means comprises one or more conveyor belts running along said upper face of said base station, a driving source for causing said running of said one or more conveyor belts and a mechanism connected to said feeler and actuating said driving source only when said feeler senses said lowering of said uppermost cop below said feeler level in said cop shooting tunnel. (FIG. 3)

5. Automatic cop feeder as claimed in claim 4, wherein a plurality of auxiliary rollers are disposed in combination with said one or more conveyor belts so as to uphold the latter stably.

6. Automatic cop feeder as claimed in claim 3, wherein said feeler has a mechanical sensing terminal.

7. Automatic cop feeder as claimed in claim 3, wherein said feeler has a photo-electric sensing terminal.

8. Automatic cop feeder as claimed in claim 1, wherein said cop container is provided with vertically fluted side walls, each flute defining a corresponding cop column within said cop column. (FIG. 6)

9. Automatic cop feeder as claimed in claim 8, wherein said container advancing means comprises an inclined upper face of said base station descending towards said conveyor tower, a stopper mechanism disposed on said upper face in an electrical connection with said feeler so as to stop advancement of said container at prescribed intervals upon intermittent engagement with said fluted side wall of said container.

10. Automatic cop feeder as claimed in claim 9, wherein said stopper mechanism includes an upright stand fixed on said upper face, a stopper mounted on said upright stand and a solenoid mechanism accompanying said stopper in an electric connection with said feeler so as to cause said stopper to engage with said fluted side wall of said cop contained upon receipt of operational signals from said feeler.

11. Automatic cop feeder claimed in claim 8, wherein said feeler has a mechanical sensing terminal.

12. Automatic cop feeder claimed in claim 8, wherein said feeler has a photo-electric sensing terminal. 

1. Automatic cop feeder used in combination with bottomless type cop containers wherein cops are placed in prescribedly defined multiple columns comprising, in combination, an elongated base station whereupon said cop containers are mounted; a conveyor tower through which said cops are transported towards the next operational station one by one and located at one termination of said base station; means for advancing said containers along an upper face of said base station towards said conveyor tower in an intermittent fashion; a guide elongated over a prescribed length along said base station on said upper face so as to temporarily uphold cops in said container when the latter is in engagement therewith; a cop shooting tunnel formed through said base station whose inlet end is open at said upper face of said base station at a location next to a downstream termination of said elongated guide and whose outlet end is open facing said conveyor tower; and a feeler disposed to said cop shooting tunnel which, when the uppermost cop in said cop shooting tunnel falls below the level thereof, senses this lowering and actuates said container advancing means so as to advance said container over a length corresponding to a column width of said cops in said cop container; thereby cops in said container fall into said cop shooting tunnel from column to column and are transported towards said next station through said conveyor tower one by one.
 2. Automatic cop feeder as claimed in claim 1, wherein said conveyor tower is internally provided with a circulating endless conveyor, multiple cop pockets formed transversally on said endless conveyor prescribedly spaced from each other along a length of said endless conveyor and a driving source for circulation of said endless conveyor.
 3. Automatic cop feeder as claimed in claim 1, wherein said cop container is provided with multiple internal partitions extending across an advancing direction of said cop container on said base station and cops are placed in columns defined by said internal partitions.
 4. Automatic cop feeder as claimed in claim 3, wherein said container advancing means comprises one or more conveyor belts running along said upper face of said base station, a driving source for causing said running of said one or more conveyor belts and a mechanism connected to said feeler and actuating said driving source only when said feeler senses said lowering of said uppermost cop below said feeler level in said cop shooting tunnel. (FIG. 3)
 5. Automatic cop feeder as claimed in claim 4, wherein a plurality of auxiliary rollers are disposed in combination with said one or more conveyor belts so as to uphold the latter stably.
 6. Automatic cop feeder as claimed in claim 3, wherein said feeler has a mechanical sensing terminal.
 7. Automatic cop feeder as claimed in claim 3, wherein said feeler has a photo-electric seNsing terminal.
 8. Automatic cop feeder as claimed in claim 1, wherein said cop container is provided with vertically fluted side walls, each flute defining a corresponding cop column within said cop column. (FIG. 6)
 9. Automatic cop feeder as claimed in claim 8, wherein said container advancing means comprises an inclined upper face of said base station descending towards said conveyor tower, a stopper mechanism disposed on said upper face in an electrical connection with said feeler so as to stop advancement of said container at prescribed intervals upon intermittent engagement with said fluted side wall of said container.
 10. Automatic cop feeder as claimed in claim 9, wherein said stopper mechanism includes an upright stand fixed on said upper face, a stopper mounted on said upright stand and a solenoid mechanism accompanying said stopper in an electric connection with said feeler so as to cause said stopper to engage with said fluted side wall of said cop contained upon receipt of operational signals from said feeler.
 11. Automatic cop feeder claimed in claim 8, wherein said feeler has a mechanical sensing terminal.
 12. Automatic cop feeder claimed in claim 8, wherein said feeler has a photo-electric sensing terminal. 